Early years Steel City Wrestling was started by Norm Connors in the fall of 1994. On October 8, 1994, the promotion crowned its first
heavyweight champion in
Connellsville, Pennsylvania, when T. Rantula defeated
Shane Douglas in a 4-man tournament final.
Lord Zoltan also beat Scott McKeever for the
SCW Light Heavyweight Championship. Two weeks earlier, at an ACW show in
Munhall, Lou Marconi and Dereck Stone had won the
SCW Tag Team Championship after defeating Beauty & The Beast (
Frank Stalletto and Futureshock). That same year, SCW co-hosted the first of Lord Zoltan's
Deaf Wrestlefest shows for the
Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in
Edgewood, Pennsylvania. The event would become an annual
supercard for the promotion, attracting many former
National Wrestling Alliance and
World Wrestling Federation alumni, as well as top indy stars, and became the school's most important fundraiser during its original 6-year run. Connors, who had performed as "heel" manager Notorious Norm on the local independent circuit, was able to use his connections to bring in legendary WWF wrestlers such as
King Kong Bundy,
Koko B. Ware,
Virgil, and
"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and pitted them against local stars. Bundy, and future WWE Superstar Mick Foley in particular, would agree to wrestle on SCW shows at a reduced cost due to their personal friendship with Connors. This was critical to SCW's early success as "big name" wrestlers could often bring in thousands of dollars for an independent show. A number of ECW wrestlers were directly involved in SCW storylines. On October 21, 1995, Stevie Richards turned on Frank Stalletto, attacking him with
Raven, immediately after winning the SCW tag team titles from Black & Blue (Black Cat and Lou Marconi) in Connellsville. SCW mainstays Marconi and Stalletto won the titles from Stevie Richards and
Brian Rollins in
St. Mary's, Pennsylvania, a month later. They would go on to become one of SCW's most successful tag teams.
Mikey Whipwreck and
Pablo Marquez also battled each other during the show to earn a title shot at light heavyweight champion Lord Zoltan. That same year,
The Blue Meanie attracted the attention of Raven and Stevie Richards while working at a 2-day SCW event in Pittsburgh. Raven had the idea that the unusual-looking wrestler would be perfect as a "lackey" of Stevie Richards, who was his own comic sidekick in ECW, and brought him to Philadelphia as a member of
Raven's Nest. The Blue Meanie and Richards continued appearing in SCW and regained the SCW Tag Team Championship at
Deaf Wrestlefest 1996. They held the belts for nearly two years before the title was vacated due to an injury suffered by Richards. At the end of that year, Connors and Lazarchik left the company due to
creative differences with PWX management. They decided to run SCW full-time and began promoting shows in January 1998. Connors, still retaining ownership of the promotion, was the head
booker and wrote the majority of the storylines. As vice president, Lazarchik handled the promotional side of the company by overseeing advertising and designing promotional material. Both men were also active SCW performers. Connors, continuing his "gimmick" as manager Notorious Norm, had an on-air role as SCW President while Lazarchik became "heel" manager "Hot Shot" Drew Lazario. SCW also held wrestling shows to raise money for local schools and fire departments. Charitable organizations would pay them a "set fee" for the costs setting up the show, such as purchasing insurance for the venture and turning over 5% to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission, while the charity would collect proceeds from the ticket sales. One of these benefit shows, "Brawl at Sullivan Hall" in
Mount Washington, became one of the promotion's annual supercards. On February 8, 1998, Cactus Jack and The Blue Meanie captured the vacant tag team titles from Lou Marconi and Frank Stalletto in Irwin, Pennsylvania. That same show also saw
Reckless Youth end the three-year reign of Lord Zoltan as SCW Junior Heavyweight Champion. On May 1, 1998, Stevie Richards returned to SCW after a six-month absence to help Lou Marconi beat
Tom Brandi for the SCW Heavyweight Championship. In one of his first matches after undergoing neck surgery, Richards defeated Frank Stalletto at an SCW show later that month. On May 23, SCW co-hosted an interpromotional show with MAPW in
Medina, Ohio. The following night, SCW held a show at Ainsworth Field in
Erie, Pennsylvania, featuring
The Pitbulls (
Pittbull #1 and
Pitbull #2) and
The Bushwhackers (
Bushwhacker Butch and
Bushwhacker Luke). Stevie Richards served as
special guest referee in a match between Tom Brandi and
Corporal Punishment. The promotion also began airing a weekly Friday night television show,
Steel City Wrestling TV, on
WNPA. On October 18, 1998, Don Montoya was crowned the first
SCW Television Champion following his victory over Joey Matthews in the finals of a one-night 8-man championship tournament. On February 21, 1999,
Cody Michaels won the SCW Heavyweight Championship from Dennis Gregory at the SCW Arena with the help of longtime friend Shane Douglas. On May 15, 1999, SCW was one of twelve independent promotions from across the country to participate in the
Break the Barrier supercard at Philadelphia's
Viking Hall. The promotion was officially represented by Mike Quackenbush, Lou Marconi, and Don Montoya who wrestled in a
Three Way Dance for the SCW "Lord of the Dance" Championship. Jay Kirell of CagesideSeats.com called their bout "by far the match of the night" and is credited for greatly enhancing the early career of Quackenbush. The title was created specifically to be defended in Three Way Dance matches. A week later at a SCW show in
Cambridge, Ohio,
Mankind was the special referee in a wild brawl between T. Rantula and Lou Marconi. He and Notorious Norm got into an altercation near the end of the match which saw the WWF superstar attack Connors (and subsequently Marconi) with
Mr. Socko allowing T. Rantula to win the bout.
Feud with High Society In his role as SCW President, Notorious Norm was often challenged by various heel factions attempting to "take over" the company. The most serious "threat" to the promotion was High Society (Tom Brandi, Cueball Carmichael, and
Jimmy Cicero) who managed to gain control of 40% of SCW by the summer of 1999. On June 5, SCW made its debut in
Jeannette, Pennsylvania, where Cody Michaels lost the SCW Heavyweight title to Cueball Carmichael. Carmichael won the bout due to outside interference from Dennis Gregory who had lost the belt to Michaels four months earlier. In the main event,
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Gillberg defeated Rich Myers. High Society would temporarily win control of SCW when Carmichael defeated Notorious Norm in a singles match on September 19, 1999. Little Jeannie also defeated
Lexi Fife during the show to become the first SCW Women's Champion; SCW was profiled by the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that same month.
Demise In the spring of 2000, Connors decided to close SCW. Although the promotion was still highly popular, Connors chose to focus on his regular career as a funeral director. He had been able to promote wrestling events on the weekend while at mortuary school, however, he felt his work schedule significantly limited his time to book shows. Connors had been struggling with both since his graduation the previous summer. The promotion's final show was held that summer. Connors addressed the crowd at the conclusion of the show to thank the fans, wrestlers, and Lazarchik. SCW was regarded by many in the industry as one of the top promotions on the East Coast at the time of its close. ==Reunions==